Love Knows No Lockdown: Woman in Andhra Walks 60 Km to Marry Her Boyfriend in Neighbouring Village

Hyderabad: It is safe to say while India remains on a 21-day lockdown, the country is still experiencing its set of strange incidents. One of these took place when a young girl in Andhra Pradesh walked a distance of 60 kilometre to marry her boyfriend who lived near her village, on Thursday.

Chitikala Bhavani, 19, who lives at the Hanuman Junction in Krishna District of the state decided to marry her boyfriend, Sai Punnayya, an inhabitant of Edepalli village; located 60 km away from Bhavani's village.

Thus began Bhavani's journey for love.

Bhavani and Punnaya, who have been together for four years, recently disclosed their relationship to their parents, who were not happy with the revelation.

The woman's parents disagreed to her marriage with Punnaya. That's when they decided to elope.

However, when everything was ready to set their plan in motion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nation-wide lockdown for 21 days amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Helpless, and stuck at home, the woman decided to complete her journey by walking on Thursday.

After a gruelling walk of 60 km, she finally met her boyfriend and the love birds got hitched.

However, it wasn't a happy ending as the woman's family began to threaten them both. Afraid, they approached the local police for protection. As both of them are adults, police called the girl's family members for counseling.

"Friday morning, a newly married couple approached us for protection. While taking their details we came to know the girl had walked a distance to marry her boyfriend," said local CI Venkata Narayan.

"We got a missing complaint from the girl's family too. As both are majors, we are giving counseling to the girl's parents," he said.

"We contemplated getting married after the lockdown ends. But the current situation does not seems like that," said Bhavani, adding that the government was likely to extend the lockdown.